Jaycel Adkins π π»π±π¦
@JaycelAdkins
A (novice, not expert) Reader
Madness, if written as a book. Itβs a novel that you have to experience it for yourself, really.
Thoughts?
When you are trying to complete an out of print series of texts and accidentally buy two copies of the same volumeβ¦.f*ck me.
I actually agree with this. When I taught a class of Chinese sophomores English literature we spent the entire first semester, and half of the second, on poetry. It came with the added benefit for a second language learner: they could read, and understand, and entire poem in aβ¦
Suppose you're an English teacher and you have a chance to teach 5 books to your high school sophomores. Which do you choose? The question is misconceived, but it's typical of our time that it should be so. An English teacher should be introducing students to the FIELD, theβ¦
Guillermo del Toro - Studio Ghibli Masterclass (2013, TIFF festival) β€οΈ Now online (80 minutes) >> youtube.com/watch?v=q8Uo2vβ¦
An all time favorite. Read for the third time earlier this year and still awed.
Alright, my translation of Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" (out January 2026) is up at Amazon and elsewhere. Super psyched about this: amazon.com/Meditations-Maβ¦
If I can get a good 30 more years of basically doing thisβ¦.Iβll be good.
Mary Smith, a βknocker-upperβ who earned sixpence a week shooting dried peas at windows to wake people for work (East London, 1930s)
I just met Timothy Olyphant and I told him I love him in Deadwood and Justified and he asked me for my name and I said my name to him and then he said my name.
Eastern vs Western sensibilities in animation/filmmaking. π₯²
Guillermo del Toro - Studio Ghibli Masterclass (2013, TIFF festival) β€οΈ Now online (80 minutes) >> youtube.com/watch?v=q8Uo2vβ¦
βLiterature conveys the Daoβ ζδ»₯θΌι
Helen Vendler was once asked what her motto was. Her answer was a quote from Stevens: βGod and the imagination are one. For some time my motto has been the Hopkins phrase that Tolkien quotes here: βThe only just literary critic is Christ.β
Eight books on Romantic poetry and poets that everyone should read:
Exactly! I could never think of how to articulate this before. The best example from the Chinese classics that I have found is Chanβs translation, βNeo-Confucian Terms Explained.β Technically it is flawless English, but no English author writes (or thinks) that way.
The Odyssey, newly translated by @DAMendelsohnNYC, is wonderfulβand Iβve read three other translations. His in-depth knowledge of Homer coupled with an ear for the rhythm and language of the poet, makes Odysseus journey come vividly alive.
Cihang Zhenren is a Taoist female deity from Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods.Her master is Buddhist bodhisattva Guanyin, who conferred her the magic of thousand-hand&thousand eye.Similar to Guanyin, Cihang also holds a willow branch in her hands,able to heal&suck in demons.
Yeats speculates on the relationship between the Gita and the Gospels:
I've talked to quite a few Chinese high school students while in China who no longer plan to apply to US colleges because of the new barriers to student visas. They are all now planning to apply to the UK. Oddly, this is leading to a revival of interest in Latin since studentsβ¦
All of my paperbacks are 20% OFF until August 15th. You scared, Bro?